General outfitters on Mars owned by Tony Angelo, which supplied just about anything that tourists or prospectors could need. Castor and Pollux Stone attempted to do business with them, and bought their flat cat there.
Region of space between Mars and Jupiter, sparsely populated by miners and the occasional "general store". Castor and Pollux Stone made a tidy profit selling a variety of items to the miners.
Furry native Martians, round and featureless except for three eyes (not always visible), and the limited ability to change shape (e.g. spherical to flat). They emitted a purring sound when stroked, which was soothing and almost irresistible to humans. They also were parthenogenetic, and gave birth in droves when overfed. From one flat cat, the Stones ended up with a holdful, which fortunately they were able to sell off to lonely Asteroid miners.
The flat cat that Castor Stone bought for his baby brother. Since the entire family pampered it and fed it and flat cats reproduce whenever they're overfed, the ship was soon awash with its descendants; when the flat cats were relegated to the hold, only Fuzzy Britches was kept by the family — on a strict diet.
Sport model of spaceship (runabout) mentioned in passing by Hazel Stone in response to Roger's quoting the line from Hamlet, "I can tell a hawk from a handsaw."
[mentioned in passing] One of the experimental rocket satellites operated by the Harvard Radiation Laboratory came dangerously close to the Rolling Stone's trajectory.
Educational institute in Luna, apparently college-level. Its students often called it City Tech.
Luna Pilot
[mentioned in passing] Radar and doppler station at Leyport.
Magill (no first name)
[mentioned in passing] Second officer on the Caravan, described by Roger Stone as a "wolf in ship's clothing". Apparently he and Meade Stone had a flirtation when the family traveled to Venus.
In Heinlein's stories, the Red Planet is usually described as barren and cold with a thin atmosphere, just barely habitable by humans in pressurized habitats or after terraforming. The "canals" are real waterways (usually frozen). The planet has native life, variously described in different books. Though some of the books depict conflicts between human colonists and native Martians, none portray the natives as resentful of the invasion of their home; often, the Martians remains largely oblivious to the human presence. In The Rolling Stones, Mars was settled by humans. The tariffs and taxes were almost prohibitive of interplanetary trade. Tourism was the biggest industry.
Natives of Mars were described as having three legs. Their communities were prohibited to humans by treaty, but Lowell Stone was taken to meet one. Though obviously not traumatized by the experience, he refused to talk about it afterward.
In Have Space Suit — Will Travel and The Rolling Stones in particular, but also in passing mentions in most of his stories, Heinlein states that mathematics is the most important science, and anyone who does not know advanced math should not be considered civilized or intelligent.
Name finally chosen for the Stone family spaceship, after rejecting such nominations as The Clunker, Dauntless, Go-Devil, Icarus, Iron Duke, Jabberwock, Morning Star, Onward, Oom Paul, and H.M.S. Pinafore. Roger Stone also sarcastically suggested R.S. Deadlock, Hairshirt, and Madhouse. The Rolling Stone was inspired by Hazel Stone's comment about "gathering no moss"; the family also called the ship "the Rock".
Videocast for which Roger Stone wrote scripts, in consequence of a bet that he could do better than the usual scriptwriters. When he tired of it, his mother Hazel Stone took over the job with the help of his 4-year-old son.
Twins, teenaged geniuses who with their family purchased a space ship and began a travel and trading venture throughout the solar system. They were just barely successful selling bicycles on Mars, but did good business with miners in the Asteroid Belt. Castor was the elder by 20 minutes, and was called "Grandpa" by Pollux.
Mother of Castor and Pollux Stone, physician and sculptor who joined her family on a travel and trade venture through the outer solar system. Her medical services were much in demand, first to treat an epidemic on the ship War God en route to Mars, and then for routine and emergency treatment throughout the Asteroid Belt.
Hazel Meade Stone (a.k.a. Gwen Novak)
Mother of Roger Stone, a moving force behind the family's decision to travel through the outer solar system. She was a founder of the lunar colony and an engineer who had also made a living as a blackjack dealer. She apparently lived on Earth for a while. She took over writing Scourge of the Spaceways after her son tired of it.
Roger and Edith Stone's youngest child, precocious chess player and possibly a telepath. With his grandmother, he wrote scripts for the video series Scourge of the Spaceways.
Meade Stone
Daughter of Roger and Edith Stone. She accompanied the family on their space travels.
Roger Stone
Father of Castor and Pollux Stone, retired mayor of Luna City and engineer, as well as writer for Scourge of the Spaceways. He allowed himself to be persuaded to purchase a spaceship for travel and trade through the outer solar system, with himself as Captain.
Thelma (no last name)
Tourist in Luna whom Hazel Stone overheard talking about buying a souvenir turtle; she also expressed outrage that Hazel was wearing a weapon.
In most of Heinlein's stories, the planet is hot and swampy but habitable by humans. Natives are variously described as sentient "dragons" and as small, humanoid amphibians with a matriarchal culture, the females being considerably more intelligent than the males. In The Rolling Stones, Venus was settled by humans. The Stone family had once visited it.
